Greater German Reich
=History= Rise of National Socialism On 30 January 1933 Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany by Hindenburg after attempts by General Kurt von Schleicher to form a viable government failed (the Machtergreifung). Von Schleicher was hoping he could control Hitler by becoming vice chancellor and also keeping the Nazis a minority in the cabinet. Hindenburg was put under pressure by Hitler through his son Oskar von Hindenburg, as well as intrigue from former Chancellor Franz von Papen, leader of the Catholic Centre Party, whose politics were dictated in part by his desire to combat communism. Even though the Nazis had gained the largest share of the popular vote in the two Reichstag general elections of 1932, they had no majority of their own, and just a slim majority in parliament with their Papen-proposed Nationalist DNVP-NSDAP coalition. This coalition ruled through accepted continuance of the Presidential decree, issued under Article 48 of the 1919 Weimar constitution. The National Socialist treatment of the Jews in the early months of 1933 marked the first step in a longer-term process of removing them from German society. This plan was at the core of Adolf Hitler's "cultural revolution". The new government installed a totalitarian dictatorship in a series of measures in quick succession. On the night of 27 February 1933 the Reichstag building was set on fire and Dutch council communist Marinus van der Lubbe was found inside the building. He was arrested and charged with starting the blaze. The event had an immediate effect on thousands of anarchists, socialists and communists throughout the Reich, many of whom were sent to the Dachau concentration camp. The unnerved public worried that the fire had been a signal meant to initiate the communist revolution, and the Nazis found the event to be of immeasurable value in getting rid of potential insurgents. The event was quickly followed by the Reichstag Fire Decree, rescinding habeas corpus and other civil liberties. The Enabling Act was passed in March 1933, with 444 votes in favour, against 94 of the remaining Social Democrats. The act gave the government (and thus effectively the Nazi Party) legislative powers and also authorized it to deviate from the provisions of the constitution for four years. In effect, Hitler had seized dictatorial powers. Over the next year, the National Socialist Party ruthlessly eliminated all opposition. The Communists had already been banned before the passage of the Enabling Act. The Social Democrats (SPD), despite efforts to appease Hitler, were banned in June. In June and July, the Nationalists (DNVP), People's Party (DVP) and State Party (DStP) were forced to disband. The remaining Catholic Centre Party, at Papen's urging, disbanded itself on 5 July 1933 after guarantees over Catholic education and youth groups. On 14 July 1933 Germany was officially declared a one-party state. Symbols of the Weimar Republic, including the black-red-gold flag (now the present-day flag of Germany), were abolished by the new regime which adopted both new and old imperial symbolism to represent the dual nature of the imperialist-Nazi regime of 1933. The old imperial black-white-red tricolour, almost completely abandoned during the Weimar Republic, was restored as one of Germany's two officially legal national flags. The other official national flag was the swastika flag of the Nazi party. It became the sole national flag in 1935. The national anthem continued to be "Deutschland über Alles" (also known as the "Deutschlandlied") except that the Nazis customarily used just the first verse and appended to it the "Horst-Wessel-Lied" accompanied by the so-called Hitler salute. Further consolidation of power was achieved on 30 January 1934 with the Gesetz über den Neuaufbau des Reichs (Act to rebuild the Reich). The act changed the highly decentralized federal Germany of the Weimar era into a centralized state. It disbanded state parliaments, transferring sovereign rights of the states to the Reich central government and put the state administrations under the control of the Reich administration. This process had actually begun soon after the passage of the Enabling Act, when all state governments were thrown out of office and replaced by Reich governors (German: Reichsstatthalter). Further laws ended any autonomy in local government. Mayors of cities and towns with less than 100,000 people were appointed by the governors, while the Interior Minister appointed the mayors of all cities with more than 100,000 people. In the case of Berlin and Hamburg (and after 1938, Vienna), Hitler reserved the right to personally appoint the mayors. In the spring of 1934, only the army remained independent from Nazi control. The German Army had traditionally been separated from the government and somewhat of an entity of its own. The Nazi paramilitary SA expected top positions in the new power structure. The Reichswehr feared Röhm's ambition to absorb the army into the SA under his own leadership. Röhm also aimed to launch the socialist "second revolution" to complement the nationalist revolution which had occurred with the ascendance of Hitler. Röhm and leaders of the SA wanted the regime to follow through its promise of enacting socialist legislation for Aryan Germans. Wanting to preserve good relations with the army, certain politicians and the major industries (who were weary of more political violence erupting from the SA), Hitler initiated the violent "Night of the Long Knives" on 30 June 1934. This was a purge of the leadership ranks of Röhm's SA as well as hard-left Nazis (Strasserists), and other political enemies, carried out by the SS and the Gestapo. At Hindenburg's death on 2 August 1934 the Nazi-controlled Reichstag merged the offices of Reichspräsident and Reichskanzler and reinstalled Hitler with the new title Führer und Reichskanzler. Until the death of Hindenburg, the army did not follow Hitler, partly because the paramilitary SA was much larger than the German Army (limited to 100,000 by the Treaty of Versailles) and because the leaders of the SA sought to merge the army into itself and to launch the socialist "second revolution." The murder of Ernst Röhm and the leadership of the SA, assured the army of its position. Hitler further promised expansions of the German military which brought friendlier relations between him and the Reichswehr. The death of Hindenburg brought the requirement of all soldiers' to take an oath of allegiance to obey Hitler alone and not the Reich or constitution of Germany. The Nazis thereafter proceeded to scrap their official alliance with the conservative nationalists and began to introduce Nazi ideology and Nazi symbolism into all major aspects of life in Germany. Schoolbooks were either rewritten or replaced and schoolteachers who did not support Nazification of the curriculum were fired. The inception of the Gestapo, police acting outside of any civil authority, highlighted the Nazis' intention to use powerful, coercive means to directly control German society. An army, estimated to be of about 100,000, spies and informants operated throughout Germany, reporting to Nazi officials the activities of any critics or dissenters. Most ordinary Germans, happy with the improving economy and better standard of living, remained obedient and quiet, but many political opponents, especiallyneeded communists and Marxist or international socialists, were reported by omnipresent eavesdropping spies and put in prison camps where many were tortured and killed. It is estimated that tens of thousands of political victims died or disappeared in the first few years of Nazi rule. Between 1933 and 1945 more than 3 million Germans had been in concentration camps or prison for political reasons. Tens of thousands of Germans were killed for one or another form of resistance. Between 1933 and 1945 Special Courts killed 12,000 Germans, courts martial killed 25,000 German soldiers, and 'regular' justice killed 40,000 Germans. Many of these Germans were part of the government civil or military service, a circumstance which enabled them to engage in subversion and conspiracy while involved, marginally or significantly, in the government's policies." From 1936 to 1939, the Nazis embarked on a series of peaceful territorial expansions. First, the coal-mining region of the Saar voted for return to the Reich. Then the Army marched into the Rhineland to no opposition. Anschluss with Austria was also concluded easily with the colussion of local Nazis. The Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia was delivered up by France and Britain at the Munich Conference. After bullying Czech President Hacha into line, Hitler moved into the remainder of Czechslovakia (allowing Slovakia to break away to form an independent state). World War II in Europe The next territory was the Danzig and the Polish Corridor, between the main part of Germany, and East Prussia. Poland refused to give in, and Britain and France stated that they would declare war to guarantee Poland's borders. The Nazis signed a pact with the USSR, and on the 1st of September 1939 the Nazis invaded Poland. Over the next five years, the fortunes of the war were heavily in Germany's favour, then began to swing back with German defeats at Volgograd, and El Alamein (and North Africa in general). In late 1943, the Allies invaded continental Europe, moving into Italy, which changed sides. The Allies had spent years preparing another invasion of the continent. They intended to attack across the English Channel into France. Ending the War On the 6th of June, 1944, the Allies invaded France. Field Marshal Rommel, acting on his own, took the mobile reserve, and counterattacked. Though German losses were heavy, the invaders' losses were worse. The Allied force had failed to get more than five miles from the shoreline. On the next day, General Eisenhower withdrew his forces, and resigned. Churchill and Roosevelt planned to re-group and invade in Summer 1945. Others had different ideas. In Britain, Churchill lost the confidence of the House of Commons, and was replaced by Lord Halifax, while in the United States, Joseph Kennedy won on a platform of "Peace with Germany, Victory over Japan in 1945!". A quick by-election victory puts Halifax into the Commons. Halifax and Kennedy agree on Peace with Germany, but Halifax wants peace with Japan as well (in return for the withdrawal of Japanese forces from British colonies). This meets with violent disagreement from Australia, Canada and New Zealand, who all vow separately that they will continue fighting Japan. In Stockholm, an Armistice between the British Empire, the United States, and Germany was signed in March 1945. Germany transfered several million men to the Eastern Front. Some of them are used to halt the Russian advance, while others (plus new recruitment) are refitted behind the lines. Both the German atomic bomb, and strategic bomber projects had breakthroughs in late 1945. The Wernher von Braun team developed the world’s first ICBM (the A9/A10) in early 1946. In June 1946, Germany announces that it has a new weapon. On 14 October 1946, the Germans launch a nuclear strike with six bombs. Their bombers strike Russian forces at the front, industrial targets in the Urals, and Stalingrad with nuclear weapons. Two bombs hit Russian forces in Poland, three hit industrial targets in the Urals, and one destroys Stalingrad, the site of Germany's greatest defeat. Shortly after, a massive German offensive was launched. The aim was to grab as much territory as possible before the onset of Winter. The offensive went through the gap in Russian lines. The shock of the nuclear attacks affects the Russians more than the destruction. The Soviets failed to contain the offensive, and several divisions were cut off and destroyed. Hitler was elated, this echoed the successes of 1941. Hitler even talked of taking Moscow by Christmas 1946! The Russian Army had other ideas, they intend to conquer Moscow themselves. The USSR's Generals took the hint of the German nuclear attacks. They were convinced that Germany had enough bombs to completely destroy Russia (in fact the initial German nuclear bomb production run was eight, including one test, and six used in the October attack). On 7 November 1946 (the 29th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution), STAVKA goes into action. Forces loyal to Zhukov lock down Moscow and occupy the Kremlin, arresting the Politburo. Stalin, Voroshilov, and several other high leaders are killed. Beria is executed on the spot and Konev made head of the NKVD. Zhukov declared himself head of the Interim Council of State and immediately requested an armistice from the Germans. A treaty is concluded and signed in January. Later, Russia became a monarchy under Emperor Vladimir Cyrillovich. There was some communist partisan activity (on both the German and Soviet sides of the cease-fire lines), but it was eventually suppressed. In late 1947/1948, Zhukov and the ruling junta announced that they intend to draft a new constitution for Russia, producing a constitution that restored the empire but guaranteed the population the same civil rights as the 1934 Soviet Constitution and also promised to not fundamentally upset the economic order, i.e., there would be no return to the era of noble power. Setting the Post War Stage After the Soviets gave in, Halifax’s parliament (by now consisting largely of the appeasement lobby or outright fascists) recalled Edward VIII, and impeached King George VI. His Majesty suffers a heart attack and dies en route to Canada. His eldest daughter is crowned in Ottawa, and denounced her uncle, accusing him of being a pretender and stating that she is the true Queen of Britain and the Commonwealth. The dispute between King James III (the son of Edward VIII, born in 1956) and Queen Elizabeth II still goes on. After a long island-hopping campaign, the United States, and the Commonwealth defeated Japan in August 1945. The war is ended by surrender after the dropping of two atomic bombs on Japan. Japan is occupied by the US, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia and becomes an important American ally in Asia. German-American relations were generally peaceful, and Germany used that time to reconstruction, normalisation of its government (especially in Europe), and establish sympathetic governments in South America, the Middle East, and Asia. The Reich's massive war damage caused it to neglect Europe's colonies, and a process of independence started slowly. Germany gained two allies in Africa (in addition to the European colonies in North Africa and the Horn of Africa), Egypt and South Africa. Germany's good relationship with America would not last long inspite of the fact that no one in Germany saw it coming. After the shock of defeat, people were keener to face the Nazis with a strong Western front. General MacArthur won the 1948 election against Joseph P. Kennedy. After that, German-American relations became extremely cool. It also meant the end of one of the old guard. Hitler blamed von Ribbentrop for the cooling off in relations and the absence of any warning. Joachim von Ribbentrop was sent to Paraguay as Ambassador (it was publicly stated that it was for personal reasons). Colonial Matters After the war, Germany found itself in effective control over a large set of colonial empires. This was something the Nazis had never expected. Unlike Kaiser Wilhelm II, Hitler did not favour colonialism in Africa and Asia for Germany, Hitler saw Germany's imperial ambitions being fulfilled in eastern Europe and Russia. Germany needed a policy for the colonies of their new vassals. Their initial policy was simple - leave the European states with empires to their own devices. Germany was still facing a strong potential enemy in Russia, and a Cold War with the United States. It could not afford to be tied down in places that no German had heard of. Hitler was firm on this - they must not help the European nations maintain empires unless it directly benefited Germany. Shortly after the accession of Elizabeth II to the British throne, most of the British colonies in Africa, and the Americas decided to recognise Elizabeth II as their rightful sovereign, and were content to take instructions from Ottawa. France had informed Britain that unless the Governor of British Guiana swore allegiance to King Edward VIII and his government followed the instructions of Lord Halifax's Colonial Secretary, France would invade from French Guiana. A new Governor was promptly flown out to Georgetown (an ironic name!) to take over. To prevent any issues with Germany's Nationalist Chinese allies, new Governors were appointed to Hong Kong and Macau by Britain and Portugal. Malaya, Singapore, Borneo, and the Dutch East Indies were lost to Germany, as they were crawling with American and Australian troops. France lost its African colonies south of the Sahara. The Vichy French however managed to reassert themselves in Indochina and North Africa. Portgual resolved to fight to keep its colonies, but (by 1975) Russian-backed and American-backed militias had made the situation in Mozambique, and Angola untenable for Portugal. Australia and Indonesia took the opportunity to take Portugese Timor in 1975. Korean War Nationalist China occupied Korea down to the 38th Parallel, while the US occupied Korea up to the 38th parallel. North Korea was turned over to the National Socialist Korean Workers Party led by Kim Il Sung, an intense follower of Hitler. He wanted to unite Korea, and Germany, not wanting to miss a chance to humiliate President MacArthur, supported him with arms and advice through China. The North Korean invasion quickly swamped the South Korean Army, and the small number of Americans in Korea, and in short order, the remaining Southern soldiers and the Americans were trapped in a pocket around Pusan with their backs to the sea. MacArthur assigns General George S. Patton the job of relieving the Pusan perimeter. Patton decides on a landing at Inchon. Initially successful, Patton drives his troops almost all the way to the Yalu. At that point, China entered the war. After being pushed south again, Patton publicly calls for the use of nuclear weapons against China and Germany. In outrage, MacArthur fires Patton, and appoints Ridgeway to command the Allied effort in Korea. Over the next two years, a bloody stalemate ensues until an Armistice is signed in 1953. Vietnam War The strategic significance of Asia in particular now occurred to Hitler, and to prevent another stalemate in Asia (or even defeat, though he did not say this), Hitler resolved to aid the Vichy French fight against the Viet Minh. The Viet Minh were an insurgent movement led by the charismatic Ho Chi Minh, who led his men against the French, then the Japanese, then the French again. The Viet Minh were supported heavily by the United States, which had formed a relationship with the Viet Minh during World War II. The Germans supported the French with arms, and released men from the Charlemagne Division of the Waffen SS to fight with the French. Despite this support, the French were defeated, and after the Siege of Dien Bien Phu, the French sued for peace. The histories of Vietnam and European Fascism had been linked since the defeat of France in 1940. The Viet Minh had driven out the army of Vichy France in 1954, and an extremely uneasy truce was proclaimed between the social democratic American-supported North Vietnam, and the fascist German-supported South Vietnam. The MacArthur Administration wanted the South brought to heel by the Northern leader Ho Chi Minh, and Ho was happy to oblige. Ho Chi Minh wanted to lead a united Vietnam. He reactivated the southern Viet Minh as the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (NLF, commonly known as the Viet Dan Chu or VDC). The VDC began its fight by carrying out terrorist attacks throughout the South's cities, and guerrilla warfare in the jungles, rubber plantations and rice paddies of South Vietnam. Germany decided to aid the South Vietnamese in their fight against democracy. Germany started by supplying equipment, then moved on to advisors. By 1962, the advisors were taking small parts in the fighting. This was especially true of the Luftwaffe. By 1965, Hitler (in one of his last orders) sent two Army divisions and two SS division to South Vietnam. A large Luftwaffe force was sent. Despite victories in the battles, the German generals had little idea of the type of the enemy they were fighting, or of the support they were receiving from the United States. The Germans had no international support outside the EU, and its small circle of allies. By 1972, the Germans decided to leave the South Vietnamese to their own devices (with German logistical support). In 1975, the South fell (producing one of the most famous images of the war, an American-made M48 tank bearing the flag of the National Liberation Front bursting into the Presidential Palace in Saigon). In months, the Pathet Lao had taken over Laos driving out the pro-German monarchy, and the pro-Nazi Lon Nol regime in Cambodia was defeated by the pro-Chinese Khmer Bleu. The defeat in Vietnam was Germany's first real defeat (World War II, and Korea being stalemates). After Hitler Hitler's death in 1967 led to marked change in the Third Reich. The office of Fuhrer was discontinued, and the old offices of Reich President and Reich Chancellor were reinstated as separate posts. The two people selected could scarcely have been better, Grand Admiral Karl Doenitz, and Reich Minister Albert Speer. Both men had a good working relationship going back to the war. Doenitz and Speer established a more or less normal collective government in Germany. They also established the European Union, in order to end the expensive occupations of the European states, while extending German control to some of the neutral states (Spain, Portugal, and Ireland). The principal means of control was economic, and the threat of German military force. =Government= The modern executive and legislative branches of government of the Greater German Reich bears little resemblence to the government of the Hitler-years. The only resemblence is traces of the "institutional duality" between the State and the Party. The judiciary however is essentially the same. Executive The titular head of state in Germany is the Reich President, who is elected by the Reichstag. He appoints a Reich Chancellor to run the government's day to day operations. Decisions are made by the Cabinet (chaired by the Chancellor) and ratified by the President. The Third Reich has the following cabinet departments: *Reich Ministry of Finance **Reich Treasury Office *Reich Foreign Ministry *Reich Interior Ministry **General Inspector of the Reich Capital **Office of the Councillor for the Capital of the Movement **Office of the Reich Master Forester *Reich Ministry of European Affairs *Reich Ministry of the Eastern Territories *Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda *High Command of the Wehrmacht **High Command of the Army **High Command of the Navy **High Command of the Luftwaffe *Reich Ministry of Aviation **Lufthansa *Reich Ministry of Justice *Reich Economics Ministry **Office of the President of the Reich Bank *Reich Ministry for Nutrition and Agriculture *Reich Labour Ministry **Reich Labour Service *Reich Ministry for Science, Education, and Public Instruction **Reich Youth Office *Reich Ministry for Ecclesiastical Affairs *Reich Transportation Ministry **Reichsbahn **Office of the Inspector for Highways *Reich Postal Ministry *Reich Ministry for Armaments Legislative Germany's legislative body is the unicameral Reichstag. The Deputies of the Reichstag are elected to four year terms. All must be members of good standing in one of the three political parties. Proportional representation is used,. No Nazi election has ever returned a less than 98.6% result for the NSDAP. All other parties act in a grand coalition with the NSDAP. There are currently 616 Nazis in the Reichstag Political Parties: *National Socialist German Workers' Party *German National People's Party *German Völkisch Freedom Party National Socialist German Workers' Party The National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazi Party) is the government party of the Third Reich. Apart from the fact that most state officials must be members of the Nazi Party, the Nazis control a number of organisations which are instrumental to the running of Germany. Party organisations include: *Schutzstaffel (SS) *Sturmabteilung (SA) *Hitler Youth **Deutsches Jungvolk **League of German Girls *German Labour Front *National Socialist Flyers Corps *National Socialist Motor Corps *National Socialist Sailors Corps *National Socialist German Students' League *National Socialist Teachers League *National Socialist German University Lecturers League *National Socialist Women's League European Union The European Union is ostensibly a free union of European nations. In fact, it is the means by which Nazi Germany governs Europe. It replaced the patchwork of Occupation ministries and military governments that had previously prevailed. It also replaced the various departments of the Reich Ministry of Foreign Affairs which dealt with pupped governments such as that of Vichy France. It was founded in 1957 as an initiative of Himmler and Speer. List of Leaders of the Greater German Reich Heads of State Heads of Government =Administrative Regions= The Greater German Reich is divided into the German Reich, the Reich Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, the Reichskommissariat Ukraine, the Reichskommissariat Ostland, and the General Government. The German Reich itself is divided into several Gaue (singular: Gau) and Reichsgaue (singular: Reichsgau).The Gaue were simply Nazi Party divisions, but since 1957, the Gaue were civil government divisions. The Gaue are as follows: *Gau Baden *Gau Bayreuth *Gau Berlin *Gau Düsseldorf *Gau Essen *Gau Franken *Gau Halle-Merseburg *Gau Hamburg *Gau Hessen-Nassau *Gau Köln-Aachen *Gau Kurhessen *Gau Magdeburg-Anhalt *Gau Mainfranken *Gau Mark Brandenburg *Gau Moselland *Gau Mecklenburg *Gau München-Oberbayern *Gau Niederschlesien *Gau Oberschlesien *Gau Ost-Hannover *Gau Ostpreußen *Gau Pommern *Gau Sachsen *Gau Schleswig-Holstein *Gau Schwaben *Gau Südhannover-Braunschweig *Gau Thüringen *Gau Weser-Ems *Gau Westfalen-Nord *Gau Westfalen-Süd *Gau Westmark *Gau Württemberg-Hohenzollern *Reichsgau Danzig-Westpreußen *Reichsgau Kärnten *Reichsgau Niederdonau *Reichsgau Oberdonau *Reichsgau Salzburg *Reichsgau Steiermark *Reichsgau Sudetenland *Reichsgau Tirol-Vorarlberg *Reichsgau Wartheland *Reichsgau Wien =Demographics= Category:Nations Category:Greater German Reich Category:Alternate Histories